Blissful
by Kyoru-KiTTy-ArTist
Summary: Naruhina oneshot. Nothing can stop Hinata from watching Naruto train, not her father, not 2 and 1/2 years of separation, and certainly not a simple cold. Well, that simple cold gave her hiding spot away but it also gave her the best day she had ever had.


She's aliveee?? What is thiss?? So I haven't written anything in like...a year XD woww. I've gotten into Naruto and fully support the pairing NarutoxHinata (and not stinky NarutoxSakura EWWW) *coughcough* haha sorry if that offends anyone, but I seriously think Naruto and Hinata complete each other. And also, Hinata reminds me of myself xD so I can relate to her well.

By the way, I'm sorry if i get manga details wrong... Go a little easy on me, lol, because I just got into it recently. I'm not really experienced with all of the terms and ninja stuff yet haha.

Anyway I'll stop blabbering! Enjoy my little drabble ;)

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Hinata held back a sneeze by holding her breath in desperation. Her cheeks puffed out and she jerked as if she had inwardly hiccupped. As the sneeze passed, she sighed silently. Her pretty light eyes lacked their kind and cheerful luster and she rubbed under her nose, sniffling.

"Hyahh!" Naruto yelled. Hinata peeked out from behind her hiding-tree to watch her favorite hyperactive, blue eyed ninja train. He worked diligently and consistently whenever he was not on a mission, returning to the same training grounds he had used for years before he left Konoha with Jiraiya-sensei. He was working on new techniques and jutsus he strove to master, even though, at sixteen, he had accomplished incredible feats that no one expected him to overcome. Well, no one except timid Hinata, who had an exceedingly high opinion of Naruto already. In childhood, she had watched and rooted for him, very quietly of course, and when he had left for three years, Hinata had been devastated. But, she worked hard as well to become a better person in his eyes. She didn't want him to think of her as that shy, dark, weird girl.

_'It's embarrassing that he even thought that' _she thought miserably, sniffling softly again. _'I suppose I can't blame him though; I did never talk around him much, and I always fainted at even the smallest of physical contact._' Thinking it over, she felt somewhat determined to change his perceived view of her to a strong capable ninja. She admired him so much; couldn't fate just let him see how she's improved and maybe, possibly, let him admire her, even in the smallest sense? Hinata pursed her lips as she watched Naruto summon a toad with his summoning jutsu cry and a puff of smoke._ 'Now if only I could just get rid of this cold... then life would be blissful,' _she thought sarcastically, fighting the urge to sneeze again.

Naruto nipped his thumb again, making quick hand signs and slapping his palm to the ground. A giant frog emerged from a puff of light colored smoke, grinning toothlessly at the young ninja.

"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed enthusiastically, throwing a fist in the air. "Let's try again," He gave the toad a fox-like grin, the whisker marks on his cheeks becoming more prominent as his smile broadened.

"Sure. But you might want to check your surroundings." The frog mentioned languidly.

Naruto froze for a second, taking in what the frog had said. He readied his stance instinctively, his voice growing more serious, "...Why?"

The frog's slimy tongue flew near Naruto's head, snatched an unsuspecting fly and gulped it down. Naruto's eyes followed the tongue's flickering movement while he listened intently to the sounds around him. He hadn't heard anything nor had he felt any chakra presence; he felt slightly ashamed of himself that he hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary training here for a half hour while a dumb frog who had literally just appeared there sensed another presence right away.

"It's not an enemy," she assured, licking her slippery lips. Naruto relaxed slightly, his piercing eyes becoming less tense, but he didn't stop listening. "Not that what you are doing is particularly private, but I thought you might want to be aware," The frog said before disappearing in the same fashion she appeared.

As the smoke subsided, Naruto stood alone. He didn't do the jutsu again like he had told the frog he would, he just waited, listening and looking around.

Well, if it wasn't an enemy, couldn't it possibly be a friend? If not even a friend, it could be someone passing by who happened to take interest in Naruto's techniques and simply wanted to watch him. 'But who would take interest in the Kyuubi container anyway?' Naruto thought bitterly. _'Who would want to waste their time watching someone like me?'_ His hands drew to his sides, his elbows bent slightly, and kicked at the dirt under his feet, overturning a few pebbles and possibly uprooting a small green weed.

Say someone was watching him though, who could it possibly be? Would it be one of the Rookie 9, like Rock Lee or maybe Shikamaru? No, it couldn't be them, they'd never watch Naruto train, most of the group had their our techniques and skills to worry about and besides, they probably would have called out to him by now to say hey or something. Naruto suddenly felt a presence nearby, a small evidential flow of chakra acknowledging his senses. He turned his eyes in the direction where he believed the source of chakra had come from. The flow had been ephemeral, almost non-existent and unnoticed, Naruto felt it's quick, fleeting existence nonetheless. There was definitely someone there. (Hinata had been keeping a hold on her chakra flow so she wouldn't be sensed or noticed. However, every time she sneezed, the control faltered, leaking a bit of her chakra out in the open.) _'Well, let's search 'em out!'_ Naruto raised an eyebrow and smirked, feeling excited about the new little challenge.

As it turns out, Naruto never got his challenge, because Hinata couldn't hold her sneezes in anymore. She sneezed tremendously with such a force that she blew herself backwards, hitting her head against her harmless hiding tree with a bonk. She 'eeped' when she felt the pain throb in the back of her head and grasped her bruise as her knees buckled. She collapsed to the ground, only vaguely aware of Naruto coming up quickly behind her.

"Hey, what was that bang? I know you're there!" Naruto exclaimed openly, not sure to whom he was talking to. Glancing around the trunk of the tree whose leaves had shaken when the noise occurred, Naruto stared wide-eyed down at the feminine figure crouching against the tree's base, her small hands gripping her head. "Hey... Are you okay?" he said, kneeling in front of her. The girl picked up her head from her knees, her pale lavender eyes staring at him in shock and humiliation of getting caught. Immediately, Naruto stammered, "H-Hinata-chan?" Her face immediately flushed and she began to feel dizzy, her vision showing her mind two, no, three Narutos. "Hinata-chan," his voice sounded far away. "Did you hit your head? What are you doing here?"

She seemed as if she were about to say something. However, as fate would have it, she sneezed again violently. Holding her nose in her hands, she mumbled stuffily, "Gomen, Naruto-kun..." he laughed once in response and gave her a half-smile.

"Don't be sorry. But seriously, are you sick or something? Your face is all red."

"A-ano... It's nothing. I-I'm fine..."

But Naruto shook his head, smiling because he thought her expression was kind of cute, "Nah, I can't let you sit out here when you've got a cold like that, Hinata-chan." Hinata couldn't get over the small 'chan' he put after her name. She blushed and felt herself about to faint.

_'Don't_,' she told herself sternly. _'You know you won't ever forgive yourself if you faint now. Resist it. Please don't faint...'_

"...To my place."

She hadn't realized that Naruto had still been speaking and blinked at him dumbly. "N-nani?"

Naruto smiled at her. "I said, the Hyuuga compound is a little far from here, so maybe I'll just take ya to my place 'cause it's closer."

"... T-take me...?"

"Yea!" he turned around and motioned for her to get on his back. " I can carry you easier this way."

Hinata hesitated, however she quickly laid herself gently on top of him, not wanting to pass an opportunity like this up. Plus, she was truthfully exhausted and she really didn't care where she went right now. She had only gotten a small jist of what Naruto had been saying anyway.

As she got on his back, Naruto felt her body press onto his, especially her rather large...uhm... breasts. Naruto blinked, his cheeks blushing a bit. The only thing he could think in his flustered state was, _'Oh... That's right...'_ as if he had just remembered what day of the week it was. He was brought out of his thoughts when Hinata murmured softly, "Naruto-kun's...place?"

"Yup!" he grinned.

"...Why?"

"So I can take care of you!"

That did it. Compelled by her state of exhaustion and the shocking validity of his statement, Hinata classically blushed and fainted. Naruto felt her head drop on his shoulder, "Hinata-chan?" When no response came, he said her name again, with a touch of a whine at the end of the word. She sighed lightly, as if in a reassuring response. Naruto chuckled, realizing that the inevitable had occurred and he should have seen it coming. He started onward towards his apartment.

Warmth. She felt warm. It felt really nice. She snuggled deeper into the covers, breathing in the sweet scent of the pillow. It was a familiar scent; a scent that reminded her of someone. She turned her head, feeling her body ache with sickness, attaining a groggily feel that made her face contort with discomfort. She felt something fall off her forehead that she hadn't even realized was there. Strangely, said item was placed back in its spot on her forehead. Her eyelids slowly and reluctantly fluttered open to meet the gaze of bright blue eyes smiling at her. Of course, that only could be one person, and the certainty she had of that nearly made her heart stop.

Naruto smiled warmly at Hinata, really pleased that she had woken up. While he had enjoyed watching her sleep, in a non creepy way he thought, it made him feel better when Hinata awoke and looked up at him curiously, and cutely as always. She looked better, at least better than she had been, now warm under his blankets and slight fever going slowly but surely down. He had situated the damp cloth back on her forehead when he found pure pearls suddenly staring at him. Her cuteness had brought the smile to his face. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

She looked around, slowly remembering that she was in Naruto's apartment. She noticed that she was lying on Naruto's red couch in the living room, sunlight pouring in and filling up the room from the side windows. The obvious fact that she was alone with him flashed through her mind; she tried to ignore it since thinking too much gave her a headache at the moment. "Better. A-arigato, Naruto-kun."

"No problem! Happy to help! Are you hungry or anything?"

"A-ano..I don't want to be any more of a burden..."

"You're no burden, Hinata-chan, don't even say that!"

She buried her face under the covers, accepting his statement with a blush. "I'm not sure what I'd like. A-anything that's easy for you to make would be just fine, Naruto-kun."

Naruto tapped his chin intelligently in thought. Snapping his fingers in revelation, Naruto exclaimed. "Of course! Ramen! Do you want ramen, Hinata-chan?"

"S-sure," she replied softly. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest, so loud she could hear it beat up in her ears. That was probably because of her cold, but either way she thought it was obviously and embarrassingly loud enough for Naruto to hear it. If he did, he didn't show any sign of possessing that knowledge as he hoisted himself up off the bed and stretching his arms above his head lazily.

"Be right back" he said cheerily, going into the kitchen. Hinata decided not to worry and closed her eyes again. In her mind she pictured Naruto gazing over her sweetly, thus causing her to blush.

"Don't think too much about it," she mumbled hoarsely to herself, rolling around back and forth on the bed in fanatical movements. She had felt like squealing like a schoolgirl and expressed her excitement by rolling around faster, wrapped around her blankets like a caterpillar. Exhausted after her sudden exercise, she stopped on her side facing the kitchen doorway, sweat brimming her hairline and blush spread all over her face, from her cheeks and nose up to the tips of her ears. _'N-Naruto-kun...' _Her eyelids shut and she fell asleep instantly.

In the kitchen, Naruto searched relentlessly through his cabinets for a cup of instant ramen flavor that Hinata would like. He wanted to ask her, but when he looked back out to the other room, he saw she was sleeping and he didn't want to wake her.

He looked back at his stock, thinking harder than he had since he had been on his last mission.* Would she like beef ramen? Or vegetable ramen? Maybe chicken ramen? He thought back to all of his ramen visits at Ichiraku*, if he ever saw Hinata there. Maybe two or three times he must have seen her come over, pushing her index fingers together characteristically, and say hello. Did she ever sit next to him? Probably, but he couldn't remember for the life of him what she had eaten if she did. Knowing her she wouldn't have eaten much, he also probably didn't hear her soft voice order her bowl over the loud slurping of his noodles sliding into his own mouth. The thought of ramen made his mouth water and he pulled out a miso ramen for himself.

Just as he had put the kettle on the stove to heat the water, someone knocked roughly on his front door. He ran out of the kitchen, tiptoed quickly through passed through the living room where Hinata was, and then scampered to the door. Hinata, being a normally light sleeper, turned over, with her face pressed against her cool pillow, and saw Naruto unlock a few locks and answer the door through half open eyes. She heard a loud, boisterous voice with a vivacity she questioned in the back of her mind, but of course recognized right away. '_Sakura..._ '

"Hey, Naruto! Ino and I were going to Ichiraku's and then for a walk around Konoha. Did you want to join us?" Sakura flipped her pink hair out of her face with her hand. She smiled sweetly at Naruto, her light green eyes shining, and she shifted her weight from one leg to the other.

Hinata, now more awake, wanted to curse aloud_. 'Now he'll leave me. Or worse, he'll tell me to go home. To get better by myself.'_ She honestly didn't believe that Naruto would be that cruel or inconsiderate. But, that didn't mean she didn't have her doubts. The doubts that made her want to burst out into tears. She sighed into the pillow, rubbing her light eyes to prevent the tears from spilling.

Naruto had opened the door with no notion of who it had been, and when he found out, he stiffened. Sakura asked him to go out with her. Well, not in the sense that he had once hoped, but she was asking him to hang out with her and Ino, two very attractive young women who never used to even consider looking in his direction. Naruto scratched the back of his head, a little uneasy about something he couldn't quite put his finger on. "Well..." he started. Then he looked over at Hinata, who had promptly shut her eyes and barely even breathed when she saw him turning slowly in her direction. He stared at her for a minute, or maybe it was more than that, he couldn't tell. He concluded that he should just go with what he usually did best; go with his gut. And as he looked at Hinata laying on the couch, his gut told him his answer.

"Gomen, Sakura-chan. I can't come with you. I'm...busy."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she inquired disbelievingly as she had expected him to jump at the chance to go out somewhere with her. The Naruto she knew would never pass up such an opportunity. Who did he think he was, turning her down like that? After she had kindly offered him from the bottom of her good heart this once in a blue moon chance! _'What could possibly be wrong with this baka's brain?'_ She was almost ready to sock Naruto right in the face when he answered.

"Y-yea." He sensed her impending anger. "Hinata-chan collapsed at the training grounds 'cause she's sick, so I'm taking care of her."

Sakura blinked, unclenching her fist. She looked quickly in the apartment, noticing the very red faced Hinata on the couch. Swallowing hard, and wondering why it was hard to do so, Sakura looked back up at Naruto, who had an expression on his face that she could not read. Eyebrows knitting together, Sakura straightened her posture and faked a smile, " Well... Alright. I guess I'll see you later then. Tell Hinata I hope she feels better soon." With a slight wave of her hand, she turned on her heel and strut away hurriedly before Naruto even had the chance to utter a farewell. Sakura felt a discomforting ache in her chest and she couldn't get away fast enough. _'That look on his eye, I've never seen that before... Wow... He really does...' _Her mouth twitched into a smirk. "Heh. He's so dense he probably doesn't even realize it yet."

Naruto shut the door quietly, staring at the doorknob for a minute in thought. He felt no regret for turning Sakura down but he didn't know why. He went by the side of the couch and knelt next to Hinata, placing his folded arms on the cushions. When was it that he even had the notion to turn Sakura down? He couldn't remember and rested his chin on his hand and just looked at Hinata's sleeping face (She had actually just fainted when Naruto had refused Sakura's offer on her behalf). He noticed how long and dark her eyelashes were and he noticed her smooth cheeks lightly dusted with the remnants of a blush. Since when had he seen Hinata like this, how pretty she was? She smelled nice, like lavender, and her strewn about dark hair looked silky to the touch. Naruto raised one hand and held it above her head, moving it down the round of her hair and by her jaw line, never touching but close enough to almost feel the silk. He felt very calm that she was here, a presence that soothed him hung in the air and when he breathed in looking at her, something tickled in his chest. Naruto daringly smoothed the back of his fingers lightly from her chin to the edge of her mouth and up her cream colored cheek. Before, she had been watching him, but how did he feel about that? He didn't really know what to feel besides heartwarming gratitude and a blossoming feeling in his chest that illuminated his entire being. What could that feeling be? And why would Hinata be watching him in the first place, anyway?

_'Stupid,_' something muttered in the back of his head. _'She __**cares **__for you.'_ Naruto pondered that thought for a while, the blossoming feeling only growing larger and stronger and more pleasant. Hinata let out a small sigh. Naruto felt the edges of his lips curve upwards and his eyes warmed, the blue sky absorbing the good rays of the angelic sun.

"SQUEEEEEAAAAALLLL!!"

Naruto nearly jumped right out of his skin. At the ear piercing shriek, Naruto shot up in surprise, digging his fingernails into the tile of his ceiling. Hanging upside down, Naruto realized that the hot water boiling must have been ready, and the tea kettle was telling him that it needed to get the heck off the stove. Naruto let go of the supports in the ceiling and landed on his feet as graceful and silent as a stealthy cat. In a flash he was in the kitchen taking the kettle off the stove and pouring the steaming water into a bowl. He mixed in the dried miso flavored ramen with the hot water and soon had a delicious, mouthwatering meal for most, and usually the first course of one of Naruto's eight course meals. He breathed in it's lovely aroma and was ready to dig in when he heard a soft sound.

Hinata had sneezed again. Naruto took his bowl of ramen and went into the living room. Plopping down into a crossed legged squat next to the couch again, Naruto smiled at Hinata, holding up his bowl. "Want some?" he offered. Hinata nodded. "W-what kind is it?" she asked as he helped her sit up by pressing gently against the small of her back. He fixed the pillow by fluffing and propping it up for her with one hand, and she leaned back comfortably.

"It's miso ramen," he took his chopsticks and slurped a couple of noodles down. Hinata made a reach for the chopsticks, but Naruto smiled and picked some noodles up for her. He held the ramen in front of her face and Hinata smiled shyly. "Miso's my favorite." she said without stuttering, opening her mouth to allow him to feed her. She took it in her mouth, chewed and swallowed. Naruto smiled broadly at the similarity they shared, and used his chopsticks to give himself ramen and then to give Hinata ramen, and back and forth until the bowl was empty. Hinata finished the last bit by slurping up her noodle with a slippery, wet sound that was far from ladylike. The sound caused her to make a face and Naruto laughed at her expression. In response, she giggled. And they laughed together for a while, content in the tranquility of the apartment.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata suddenly lost her stutter because of the serious tone of her voice.

"Yea, Hinata-chan?"

"Thank you...for before."

"For what, Hinata-chan?" Naruto just really liked saying her name.

"For taking care of me... And not leaving me... Or turning me away, especially when Sakura-chan..." she couldn't finish. She couldn't even look him in the eyes.

Naruto understood. He picked her chin up with his hand so she would look at him. Just like Hinata, he found it hard to get the words out. It wasn't typical of him to be so laconic.

"W-why did you d-do it?" the physical contact made her a bit nervous and Hinata looked into Naruto's eyes, surprised that she had even enough courage to say what her heart asked.

His gaze was a bit distant as he thought of an answer. When his eyes refocused and locked gazes with Hinata, Naruto smiled playfully. Adjusting himself so that he was leaning over her, he cupped Hinata's chin with both hands and shut his eyes. In an instant, before Hinata could even think to breathe, Naruto's lips caught hers in a chaste kiss (well, half her lips at least. Naruto had been so set on kissing her that he didn't really aim, and in his swift motion he kissed part of her cheek and part of her mouth. He then clumsily fixed his lips' positioning, not that Hinata noticed. She proceeded to practically lose consciousness in his arms.)

She was only out for a second; similarly to when a fuse blows and everything suddenly goes black but then the power regenerates and comes back on. Naruto made to back away, to part, to tear their connectivity, because he didn't feel Hinata respond to the kiss at all (again because it had practically put her into shock) but Hinata mentally screamed. _'If he moves, he won't know! He won't know how I...'_ She suddenly pressed into him, wrapping her arms around his neck, reclaiming his lips passionately. It was possibly the bravest thing she had ever done, and Naruto felt a pleasurable warmness spread from his stomach up to his chest. Daringly, he slid a small bit of his tongue in the small space between Hinata's top and bottom lips. She opened her lips partly, drawing in a breath. Naruto leaned his forehead on hers and licked his lips when they parted, breathing in a low gasp as well. Their gazes were locked, noses almost touching and small smiles tugged at the corners of their mouths.

"To answer your question," Naruto started. Hinata looked up at him, vaguely aware of the presence of his firm hands holding her possessively on her hips. "...I did it because-"

" 'Chuu!" Hinata sneezed softly into her chest, thrusting her head downwards and banging her forehead into Naruto's nose. He grunted, grabbing his nose and Hinata stammered sorrowful apologies and concerns instantly. Naruto shook it off, and laughed when Hinata sneezed again in midsentence.

"Hinata-chan, are you cold?"

"G-gomen, Naruto-kun..." she whimpered. _'Way to make a fool of yourself_.' she thought bitterly.

Naruto suddenly jumped on top of the couch, snuggling next to her with his arms wrapped securely around her. "It's okay! I'll warm you up, Hinata-chan!" even though his face was snuggling in her hair (and breathing in her intoxicatingly sweet scent) she could still tell that he was grinning ear to ear from the tone of his bubbly voice. Her heart warmed when she realized how he wanted to be so close to her even when she was so sick, how he had fed her ramen, how he had stayed with her, how he had kissed her. She blushed at the recent memory, her entire body heating up.

"Hina-chan," Naruto whispered in her ear. "Are you blushing?"

She had been caught. "N-n-no!"

Naruto only chuckled softly. "Oh Hinata-chan..." He yawned. "You're cute. Like...really cute." he placed his cheek in the crook between Hinata's shoulder and neck.

Hinata blinked in thought. Should...should she do it? Should she tell him how she really felt about him? She turned her head slightly to notice that Naruto had his eyes closed, his breathing deep and his lips pressed into a small smile. He was asleep and Hinata gazed at his peaceful face for a little longer than a moment.

_'No,'_ she thought and she smiled and closed her eyes as well, snuggling closer to Naruto's warm body. _'Maybe I'll tell him... another time.'_

_'Yes, it doesn't have to be now. Life is already blissful.'_

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All done :D Wooww... you know, this took me about 3 weeks to write. I'm not even kidding. and I was editing it today and realized, wow i didnt write alot at all XD..

Anyway reviews please oh please?? I really want to know how this came out. Please and comments or concerns or criticism, just leave a review; I'd appreciate it! :)


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